Four Thousand Shattered Windows
by BananaSwirl
Summary: Amon knows mercy. He knows mercy and he lets the little airbending girl slide her tiny hand into his. She's a bender, it's in her blood. Amon can't erase that, but perhaps he doesn't have to.


**This was inspired by _Looking Through Glass_, by Anonymous Presence. It's a short fic that tickled my fancy and I think you should read that, as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra**

* * *

Behind her, the Air Temple sanctuary burned. It burned and crackled and cast long, dark shadows across the pavilion. The Air Acolytes-Dad had always called them Brothers and Sisters-were hiding. They were safe. They weren't benders. They didn't know what had happened.

Ikki did not want to talk. The smoke from the sanctuary-her home-burned her eyes and irritated her throat, and she looked at the mass of orange that was her father. He wasn't moving, at least not from what she could see, and Mom was curled up next to him, one hand on her round belly. Her eyes were closed. Ikki missed seeing her green eyes.

Those weird people in masks moved around in primal circles. Some had their eyes on her while others were paying attention to Mom and Dad. Ikki didn't know where Jinora and Meelo were, but she hoped that they would come out of their hiding spot. Maybe, she thought, one of the Air Acolytes had found them before the weird people did that thing to them, like the big man did.

The man standing before Ikki had a big dot in his mask, which scared Ikki just a little because she could only see his eyes through the holes. He had started to put his hand on her forehead like he had done to Dad, but he had stopped. Ikki didn't know why, but part of her was glad.

She felt like a big baby, though, because she had cried in front of him. She was scared for her mother and her father and she wanted to be strong, like them. Red-Dot-Man looked down at her with his scary eyes, standing over her and Ikki wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Come with me." Red-Dot-Man said and extended his hand. Ikki shrunk back, half expecting him to put it on her forehead again so that his palm covered the whole of her face. "There is nothing left here." He said, but Ikki didn't think he was talking to her. He turned back to her, though, and stretched out his hand again.

Ikki looked back at her mother and her father before slipping her tiny hand into the man's. His hands were rough and callused, but Ikki wrapped her fingers around his palm and took a step forward when he moved. Behind her, she thought she could hear the glass of the Air Temple Sanctuary shattering and slamming onto the ground in a thousand tiny pieces.

Ikki did not want to look back.

"Where are we going?" She asked and the Red-Dot-Man did not speak. His chi-blockers-the weird masked people-followed in a half ring behind them, ready to leap forward to save their leader from the vicious airbending child. But Ikki simply wondered where her sister and brother were, where Korra and her friends were, and what was going to happen next.

* * *

Amon looked at the tiny little airbender girl, wrapped up in one of the chi-blocker's jackets, looking out across the bay as they sailed back to the main part of the city. He had spared the girl, not only of her bending but of her life as well, and part of him wondered why he done such a thing. She was a bender, but still a child.

Part of Amon knew he could not-would not-hurt a child. Part of him simply could not press his thumb against her head, simply could not steal away her bending like he done countless others. Perhaps, he thought, he could go back through his old plans-the plans he had made before he had been enlightened by the spirits-and start from there.

The girl was a child, but she was still a bender.

One of the underlings-a wayward young man-scrambled onto the dock to secure the boat. The others would hide it away. Amon looked at the child and picked her up, passing her to a female chi-blocker as he climbed out of the boat. As soon as he gained his footing, the little girl reached for his hand and scrambled to his side, hiding in his shadow.

"It has been done," Amon said as trucks pulled up behind a nearby building. Equalist trucks. His voice carried over his group of followers, but he didn't speak loudly. "There are no more airbenders." Then he paused, realizing that the child clutching his sleeve so desperately was an airbender. No one dared point that out, however, and the little girl marched behind the revolutionary as if she belonged in his shadow.

One of his followers, a woman named Ayako, smiled as she climbed into the back of the truck after the young child. "Hello there," She said and Amon remembered that Ayako had lost her two year old child when her husband and child got in an automobile crash caused by a reckless bender trying to show off. It perhaps wasn't the strongest reason, but it was still a reason. "What's your name?"

The little girl responded well to Ayako. Perhaps it was because she was a woman. "Ikki," She said. "My name is Ikki." She smiled, "You kind of remind me of my mom. What's your name? Where are we going, because Mr. Red-Dot-Man won't tell me? I don't think he likes me."

Ayako chuckled and looked over at Amon. So, the airbender girl's name was Ikki. Ayako smiled gently, turning back to the little girl. "Well, Ikki, my name is Ayako. And Mr. Red-Dot-Man as you call him is going to take you somewhere where you will be very safe."

The girl, Ikki, seemed content with these for she grew silent and pulled her legs up to her chest, leaning against Ayako. Amon looked at her for a moment. Most definitely an airbender, he decided, even though she had not yet gotten the tattoos. She was small and lithe, and trusting and carefree. An airbender through and through.

"What are you going to do with a little airbending kid, Amon?" His Lieutenant asked and Amon could see his eyes narrowed through his goggles. "Should've left her with the rest of them." He added as the truck sped up. They were going along the main road, now. "She's only going to mess things up."

Amon cast his gaze back to the child before looking back at the Lieutenant. "The girl has a purpose," He said and as he spoke, it came to him, "The little girl is the daughter of the Avatar's airbending master. The Avatar is still at large and what better way, my friend, to bring her from the shadows?" Ayako patted the airbender's hair, cradling the girl to her chest. "Besides, she would make a marvelous experiment, don't you think?"

The Lieutenant looked at him for a moment, his eyes intense, and then a brief, rare smile crawled along his lips. "Ah, Amon," He said, "You never fail to surprise me."

* * *

Ikki learned that Mr. Red-Dot-Man, the other people called him Amon-didn't really have a house like everyone else did. He lived at the top of a building that the others called the "headquarters". Ikki hadn't really seen the top, but she had seen him climbing the stairs and disappearing. He didn't really have friends, either, but Ikki decided she could be his friend.

He still didn't tell her where Jinora and Meelo had gone, or if Mom and Dad were going to be okay, and Ikki was starting to wonder if he even knew. She tried not to think about it, because it made her sad, and she wondered where Korra and the others had gone. She missed Bolin and Pabu, and Asami because Asami sometimes let her play with her makeup until Dad got angry.

Daddy.

Sometimes, when Amon came from downstairs, he let Ikki follow him around. But other times, she stayed with Ayako and another woman named Hana. They put her in new clothes-they were black and maroon, and green-and told her that she couldn't airbend in the building. When Amon let her follow him, he never talked to her. But sometimes he let her hold his hand, just for a little while.

"Why do you have posters of yourself?" Ikki asked him, pointing to a stack of posters on a table that all had Amon's face on it. _Join the Revolution_, they said. _Fight for Equality. _Amon's mask looked kind of scary, though, so Ikki didn't look at it for a long time.

"I'm a very important person." Amon said simply, quietly, and Ikki almost didn't hear him. He kept moving throughout the room, towards the door while meandering to pick up a piece of paper there, a book here, all the while still holding on to Ikki's hand.

Ikki thought for a moment. "My dad is important, too. My dad's on the city council, did you know that?" She asked and Amon's hand tightened around her fingers for a moment. She whimpered because that hurt, and then her hand was free of Amon's grip.

Perhaps, she thought, she had said the wrong thing. Mom and Dad had always told her that she talked too much sometimes but she just couldn't help it. She had to keep the words flowing, or else they would build up and she would forget what she had to say. She had tried to play the silent game with Jinora once, but it had ended horribly.

Amon kind of reminded Ikki of Jinora, in a way. He seemed like he knew a lot of things, but he didn't tell everyone about them, and he didn't talk much. But Ikki liked following him around-it made her feel almost invincible beside him-and she felt safe holding his hand, even though people said he did a lot of bad things.

She wondered who would win in a game of silence. Jinora or Amon? And then she smiled.

* * *

Ikki slept in a room on the third floor, with Ayako. There were two more floors above them, and at the top one was Amon's little hidey-hole. Ikki liked when Ayako brushed her hair at night while they listened to the slow, romantic songs on the radio. Ikki told Ayako about the story of the magical, shiny poodle-pony who went around the world making everybody happy, but you could only see him if you believed.

Ayako smiled and said she believed, and Ikki wondered if the Lieutenant-that was Amon's friend-and Amon believed. Amon probably did, Ikki decided, but the Lieutenant wouldn't. He seemed very…_what's the word…_strict. Well, not strict, but he probably didn't laugh very much.

The radio played a song called Four Loves while Ikki danced, spinning around in a circle. Ayako told her that Amon made someone buy a whole set of new clothes for her, even night clothes and hair ribbons. She claimed that, "Amon normally doesn't like children," and that Ikki must have been "some kind of special" in order to make Amon take care of her so meticulously.

An announcer came on the radio, solemn and slow, and Ikki stopped twirling. "This is the Republic City Orphaned and Abandoned Children's Agency," said the announcer, "coming with the report of a missing or kidnapped airbending child, named Ikki. Daughter to Councilman Tenzin. She is seven years old, with brown hair and gray eyes. May be used as ransom by Equalists. Last seen three days ago after the fiasco at Air Temple Island. Any leads are appreciated; please contact Avatar Korra, Officer Lin Bei Fong, or Councilman Tarrlok with any possible information."

Just as the announcement ended, Ayako switched off the radio. She looked at Ikki, her eyes wide, and Ikki wasn't sure what to say. "They're looking for me?" She asked, "Korra is looking for me?" Suddenly, even though everyone was really nice, Ikki wanted to go home. Suddenly, it didn't feel right being here. She wanted to go home.

"Ikki," Ayako said, "If they find you, they're going to send us to a bad place. If they find you here, then you're going to make Amon sad. And you don't want to make Amon sad, do you, especially not after he's done so many things for you. Think about all the pretty clothes he's bought and the silk hair ribbons…" She put her hands on Ikki's shoulders, "But if you see Korra, you'll have to bring her here, alright?"

The little airbender girl paused for a moment. Then, she nodded. "Alright." She said and Ayako smiled at her. It still didn't feel right, but Daddy had always told her to be grateful when people did things for her. And she didn't want to make Amon sad.

Ayako grinned and held out her hand, "Promise?"

Ikki shook it. "Promise."

* * *

Those who didn't know Amon as a person thought he was a sick, perverse man when Ikki climbed onto his lap. The ones who did know him-they mainly lived at the headquarters-thought it was highly amusing that a seven year old bender girl could tame the revolutionary. Some found it endearing when Amon told Ikki that being an airbender-that being any type of bender-was bad and that she shouldn't do it. There were better things than being an airbender. Like a chi-blocker.

But even those who knew Amon personally couldn't tell if he was simply using the girl as one of his experiments for warping people's minds. He didn't take her shopping or out to the park-there was too much of a risk of her being seen-but he made his underlings buys her books and ribbons, and the occasional doll. They were lavish things, things she had never gotten during her simple life as an airbender.

Amon let Ikki sit on his lap when he wasn't busy working, and showed her how the chi-blockers trained. She would make a good chi-blocker, the Equalists said, she was light on her feet and quick. Being an airbender had graced her with that gift. She would be a good addition. But Amon kept her out of the Equalist affairs, casting a look to his followers when she entered the room and crawled into his lap.

He held her and the Equalists wondered if Amon had ever had children of his own. But he hadn't. He simply couldn't let the girl go. She would bring the Avatar to him and the rest of Republic City would follow, and he would lead them all into equality. The artists who worked on the Equalists posters considered adding in the silhouette of a little girl in Amon's outstretched hand, but that seemed a bit to forward.

Bending was bad. That was what Amon said and when he told her all the bad things benders had done-even her Daddy-Ikki started to believe it. People said Amon was bad and Ikki started to wonder if that made her bad, too. Daddy had always told her that birds of a feather flew together, and they said Amon was bad.

Ikki kind of missed airbending, but then she looked at all the things she had gained instead, and she decided she didn't mind. Ayako showed her a few of the quick, efficient jabs that the chi-blockers used and Ikki practiced them, leaping and jumping gracefully.

Bending an airbender was one thing, but it was still in her blood.

And that made her do bad things sometimes. She didn't mean to, but whenever she did something wrong, Amon would pat her head and say it was alright, that he had forgiven her because she couldn't help she had some evil in her. Even when she was jumping around and accidently bent the air, he wasn't mad at her.

They were in the basement of the headquarters, where there was a whole hall dedicated to training. Ayako had told her that late at night, Amon practiced privately with his mask off. Ikki had wondered what his face looked like underneath the disapproving line of a mouth, and she wondered if it was pretty. He was probably the world's prettiest man and to keep everyone from knowing it, he kept his mask on.

Sometimes, though, he honed his training with the others. He was a master at what he did and the others aspired to be like him. Ikki watched as he wove and ducked around his followers, who were coming at him with seemingly everything they had.

He moved gracefully, quickly, and no one could land a blow on him. Not even Ayako, who was almost as fast but not nearly as efficient. Ikki stood on the sidelines, copying the movements that she saw. She let herself be free, then, swinging her legs into arching kicks and throwing jabs at the air.

She was too free. She knew no restraint.

The gust of wind came quickly, without warning, following the motions of Ikki's hands and when she realized what she had done, she covered her mouth with her hand. She threw out a gust of wind and the mask that hid Amon's face landed on the floor, just a few feet away from him. It clattered loudly, but did not break, but then there was silence.

He raised his hands quickly, covering his face but not before Ikki saw it. She saw the network of long healed scars, faded with age, crisscrossing his cheeks and nose before leading to a reddened patch of skin that rose into his scalp. It was ugly, to Ikki, it was also the most interesting thing she had ever seen. It wasn't the pretty face that she had imagined and her stomach turned a little, but she didn't look away until his mask was firmly back in place.

"I'm sorry!" Ikki said and cowered, because she had done a bad thing. She didn't want to make Amon mad at her, and she didn't want to make him sad, either. "Please forgive me!" Part of her felt like crying, but she was a big girl and big girls didn't cry.

Amon did not seem angry, just disappointed. He looked at her with his pale eyes and sighed, shaking his head. "There is no need to be sorry," He said, "You just did what came naturally. You were born with this evil ability; you just have to learn to suppress it. I'm not angry, just…crestfallen. I knew you would do it; it's in your nature. It's in your blood."

Ikki swallowed. "I'll try harder next time," she said and Amon nodded. She wondered if he was smiling under his mask, if he could even smile with all those ugly scars. Amon held out his hand and she raced over to his side. "I promise." From now on, she decided, she would suppress-whatever that meant-her evil and be an advocate for equality.

That would make Amon happy.

* * *

The Equalists were going to make Republic City see the truth. They were going to make everyone equal tonight. Ikki knew it because Amon told her so. He was letting her come with them, with him, and together they were going to show the world how it should be. He had helped her be good, and now they were going to help the world.

Daddy had been bad, but now he was good. At least, Ikki hoped so. She cleared her throat as Ayako strapped her to the back of the motorcycle, placing a helmet over her head. She had her airbending clothes on again, Amon had told her to wear them, to prove a point. Even though she had been born evil, she had been made good.

Riding behind Ayako was fun, even though she couldn't see much. The motorcycle was fast and Ikki couldn't take everything in, but she could see the fire. There was fire pouring out windows and even through her helmet, she could hear screams. There were shattered windows and Ikki tried to count them, but she lost count.

The Equalists-her friends, were driving huge machines. They had claws that grabbed people by their clothes and threw them around, and Ikki had to close her eyes. But she saw that they had gloves, too, gloves that shocked people and made them scream.

The benders were fighting back. Ikki held on tight as Ayako swerved around a barricade that metalbender cops-like Chief Beifong-had set up. She was scared, but Ayako told her everything would be alright and that Amon was in the truck behind them. He would make sure everything was alright.

She saw Korra. She saw Korra and Bolin, and Mako, and Asami was driving a car while Mako and Korra threw blasts of fire at the Equalists. Ikki wanted to wave, but then she remembered bending was evil. And Korra hadn't come to her, even though she had really wanted her to.

Ayako pulled the motorcycle to a halt, right in the middle of the city, and Ikki wiggled off of her seat. Suddenly, there was Amon, looking bold and proud against the light of the fire and the glitter of the shattered windows at their feet. Ikki looked up at him and grasped his hand. Amon wasn't afraid of anything, and she felt strong in his shadow.

This, a voice in Ikki's head told her, was war. This wasn't equality, this was an all-out war between brothers and sisters, benders and non-benders and she was reminded of her mother and her father. Ikki looked behind them as a whole line of the mecha tanks, as Amon called them, moved up. They blocked off the main part of the road, making sure no one could get around.

"It's the Councilman's daughter!" A man cried and Ikki saw that it was the pony-tail man, Tarrlok! He lashed out with a whip of water at an Equalists and Ikki decided he was bad, like Daddy had always said he was. There was something _fishy_ about him, Ikki thought, and she laughed a little at that. "Don't harm the little girl! I repeat, don't attack the little girl!"

Amon's fingers applied pressure to her own. "This, Ikki, is what happens when people refuse to accept equality." He put his other hand on her forehead and for a moment, Ikki felt faint. "This is what happens when people are too stuck in their old ways to realize what they are doing is wrong. We'll have to show them."

The car that Asami and Mako had been in swung around towards them, throwing up smoke and the smell of rubber. Korra followed on her polar bear dog, Naga, and gasped, her eyes wide. Ikki had always liked Korra's eyes; they were bright and blue, and _alive_.

"Ikki!" Asami cried as she leaped out of the car, reaching out her hand. Ayako lunged at her, letting out a war cry and the pretty girl ducked. Asami lashed out, her green eyes blazing as she matched Ayako's fists blow for blow.

"Ikki!" That was Bolin and Mako at once, wrestling to get away from the Lieutenant's kali sticks. An Equalist was sneaking up behind them, wearing two of the electrocuting gloves. Ikki flinched at the sound of her name, and at the thought of seeing her friends-_ex friends -_get hurt.

"_Ikki!"_ Korra screamed, lashing out with a wave of water. "It's me! You have to get away from Amon! Trust me!"

_Trust me._ Ikki couldn't trust her, she hadn't come after her. She had left her. Then, Ikki saw that Korra's eyes began to glow a scary pale color and the window over Amon's head shattered. He didn't flinch and Ikki remembered that Amon wasn't afraid of anything. But Ikki did and she gripped Amon's hand tighter.

The air seemed to hum and Ikki wanted to _bend_, but she didn't. She looked back at Asami, who was fighting back with only one hand, and Mako was on the ground, screaming in pain. Bolin had bent a wall of earth around him and his brother. Her gaze travelled out to the water of Yue Bay, where her old home sat untouched.

She turned to Korra and pulled her hand from Amon's, stretching out her fingers to pull Korra back down to her. The wind blew around them and Ikki squinted to see that Korra was crying, even though her eyes were wide open and still that eerie white color.

Amon looked at her and his pale eyes seemed to be sad, but Ikki couldn't really tell. Ikki remembered all that he had done for her, and how her dad had told her to repay people when she could. So she took Korra's fingers and guided her towards Amon. Slowly, surely, and she was sure that behind his mask, Amon was proud of her.

* * *

**Amon, I think, doesn't have to take someone's bending to get in their heads. **


End file.
